FAO food safety project kick-start in Moldova
On 23 September 2014 FAO in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry the inception workshop of the $400K project “Support to Strengthening the Food Safety System in Moldova” (TCP/MOL/3402) was held in Chisinau.
At the workshop, the 18-month project and its objectives, expected outputs and planned activities were presented by officers of the Ministry and FAO to a broad audience of major stakeholders and development partners.
“The beneficiaries of this project will be the staff of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, of National Food Safety Agency (NFSA), National Codex structures and food business operators. If we will manage to make the National Food Safety Agency to correspond with the European requirements, our products will have a better chance to get in Europe’s markets,” said Minister Vasile Bumacov.
Ion Sula, General Director of the NFSA, confirmed that the technical aid provided within the project would focus on raising capacities to monitor various hazards for food safety along the food chain on the basis of risk and traceability.
“It is important that all the customers, both local and those from foreign markets, know where the product was made, how it was transported and how it was stored,” Sula said.
Eleonora Dupouy, food safety and consumer protection officer with FAO, explained that this support would “improve institutional capacity to analyze food safety risks, prevent them and communicate them in an appropriate manner to cunsumers and economic entities.” She added that “support for disseminating information on new food safety requirements and raising capacity for compliance by food business operators also falls within the aims of this project.”
Improving the food safety system is a key priority in the Republic of Moldova. It ranks high in the development strategy of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry while it is also an important commitment in the recently signed Association Agreement of the Republic of Moldova with the European Union.
Good progress has already been made in upgrading the Moldovan food safety system, including the establishment of the National Food Safety Agency in early 2013. The FAO project will further strengthen the country’s food safety legislative framework, develop the capacities of the National Food Safety Agency and raise awareness on and capacity for good hygiene and manufacturing practices among business operators. The project will also strengthen National Codex Structures by providing training to the National Codex Committee members on rules, procedures and current work of the Codex Alimentarius.
Main activities in 2014 include risk analysis training for multiple stakeholders, including staff of the National Food Safety Agency. In addition the project and the Codex Trust Fund supported the participation of the Head of National Codex Committee and national inter-sectoral delegation in the FAO/WHO workshop on “Strengthening capacities for effective participation in Codex with emphasis on chemical food safety” held in the Hague, Netherlands, on 29 September 2014. Subsequently the national delegation participated in the 29th Session of the Codex Coordinating Committee for Europe held in the Hague from 30 September to 3 October this year.
The project TCP/MOL/3402 is implemented within FAO’s Agri-Food Trade and Regional Integration Regional Initiative for Europe and Central Asia. The Regional Initiative aims to improve national capacities to deal effectively with the challenges posed by diversifying the access to international markets and greater trade integration in the region. It does so in part by supporting the design and implementation of appropriate policies at country level.
1 October 2014, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova